Imperfection is a gift

We work hard, we focus on achieving our goals, we show up every day.  And sometimes we mess up.

It happens to all of us.  Every single one of us, including the person who may be upset with you.

Have compassion for what she’s going through, how your mistake may have domino’d to other areas, but above all – be kind to yourself.  Have compassion for you.

Yes, you.  Mutual Compassion is when you have compassion for her and for yourself, simultaneously.  So often we beat ourselves up and that’s the end of it.  It’s crazy because we miss out on the good stuff, the gifts of a mistake.

Beating yourself up won’t fix what went wrong, it puts you in a position and perception of weakness (ewww), and it distracts you from learning.  You can’t learn without making mistakes and you can’t learn from them if you’re distracted by useless thoughts like “what a dunce I am,” or “She’s so much better than me.”

Having compassion for yourself drowns out that chattering critic and gives a voice to the smart person who wants to do better next time, who wants to learn from this mistake, who is truly competent and valuable.

By all means try not to make mistakes.  But when you do fumble, be kind to yourself by receiving the gift in the mistake.